Generally, gas flow into a residential or commercial natural gas meter can only be terminated by manual means such as a manually-operated shut off valve. The availability or access to such a valve is not always possible because a majority of these meters and valves are internally located in basements or other inaccessible areas. The basic object of the present invention is to provide a system for terminating gas flow through gas meters by external means conveniently located outside a structure be it a residential or commercial building. The access to these external means can be designed so that only authorized personnel can operate them.
There are various known release valves such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,146,012; 2,728,547; 2,780,242; 3,536,294 and 4,475,899. In Mason, U.S. Pat. No. 1,146,012, a valve using fluid pressures is disclosed which will activate the opening of a valve upon the use of a push button means. Mason is not concerned with pneumatically controlling the flow of natural gas into a meter. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,547 (Crookston et al), a system for utilizing air to open and close mud release valves is disclosed. The Dyson Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,780,242, discloses the use of air pressure to control the flow of fluids through the bleeding of a liquid flow. Dyson is primarily concerned with valves that require great volumes of air to operate and may be operated by the expenditure of a very small amunt of energy. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,294 (Rodriguez) a foot-operated control valve attachment for water faucets is disclosed. The Muller U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,899 discloses a system of using a balloon connected to a compressible container to control the inflation of the balloon to open and close a valve.
The above patents are illustrative of the prior art of remote operation of a valve. However, none of them remotely suggests the control of flow of natural gas into a meter from a control source outside of a structure.